The Ice Challenge
This is a work in progress Please do not hate on this or comment rude things. Im doing this for fun so please don't tell me "This is the actual worst thing ever." Please read this first I think I made the''The Ice Challenge'' more confusing than it should be. Here are a few things you should know that I feel I didn't explain The Ice challenge itself is a competition held every two years. Any heir above the age of seven can enter. The way it works is the ice crystal, a pale blue sphere, is presented and all competitors touch it at the same time. All dragons die except one, that one surviving dragon will be declared the new queen (its like the eye of onyx). Except queen blizzard, creator of the ice crystal, rigged the enchantment to always pick her. Only the main character and her mother know the truth, they are the last surviving heirs. But another challenge is coming and at least one heir must compete every time. Its either Silver or mother. Prologue "Walk faster or were not going to make it." growled Silvers father sleet. Silver, who was sure they would make it to the ice challenge just fine felt a strong urge to reply, but restrained herself. Walking through the snow, it was hard for her not to lose her father, who was strangely pure white like the ground, the only noticeable part about him were his lavender colored horns which glinted menacingly in the blinding sun. Silvers mother trailed behind her, a beautiful dragon with aquamarine scales and wings along with a row of blue scales along her neck. Almost every member of the royal family had a strip of different colored scales along their neck, Silver was no exeption. She had Reaching the large dome made of dark blue ice Silver and her parents walked past the guards and inside. The moment she entered, a chill went through her spine that had nothing to do with the cold. The dome was full of rows of stands, in the center lay a large podium at least 15 dragons could stand on. On the podium four dragons stood, including silver's sister. Icebergs competing this year Her older sister Iceberg was really doing it, even though Silver had warned her not to attempt. She'd ignored her and now her stupidity was going to get her killed. "There are some good seats over there." Silver's mother Frost said, flicking her tail towards a row of seats close to the podium. Although she had no to desire to watch this years ice challenge, Silver walked over to the seats. Here she could she the dragons closer, her sister, one of her aunts and her cousin Snowstorm were competing. Some showed confidence while others looked like they regret their decision deeply. Suddenly, a large dragon flew over the stands and landed on the podium. Silver saw clearly who it was, her aunt Queen Blizzard. The queen had blue grey scales and white wings along with a strip of grey along her neck. Silver hated her, not only was she a terrible queen, making enemies and throwing other dragons into useless battles, but she also created the ice challenge. When the queen spoke, her voice was deep and cold giving off a unfriendly vibe "My Icewings, welcome back to the Ice challenge! Two years, how short. Now if you've somehow forgotten the rules or if this is your first time let me explain. The ice challenge takes place every two years, any eligible heir over the age of seven can compete. A small sphere called the ice crystal will be presented, the competitors will touch it at the same time and in a matter of seconds all dragons will die except one. The last surviving dragon will be named queen. Now, let us begin!" With that, the queen retrieved a small blue ball from under her wing and walked forward. Silver felt her body tense, only she and her mother knew the horrifying truth of the ice crystal. It didn't really pick the best candidate for the icewing throne, it was enchanted to only pick Queen Blizzard and kill the other heirs. Every ice challenge her relatives would volunteer, none of them believed her when she told them they would always lose. Now, the competitors were reaching there claws out to the ice crystal the queen held. They grasped it at the same time and everything was quite, waiting. Then, a bolt of lightning seemed to travel through them and Silver's aunt, sister, and cousin fell to the floor in crumpled heaps. With that, a blue sparkling mist flew out of the ice crystal and circled abound Blizzard, declaring her queen yet again. Queen Blizzard grinned and opened her wings. "Ah, it appears I've won the ice challenge yet again! While it does pain me to see them die, I know its for the better. As some may notice my only daughter volunteered, Snowstorm, and my sister, along with my neice. So sad, to see them leave me forever. The queen made a fake look of remorse before turning away towards her guards. Silver felt like a huge pair of claws were gripping her insides. Her sister was dead, she could she her shining pale blue scales resting on the ice, why didn't she just listen to Silver for once? She could have avoided all of this. Iceberg had never been kind, she acted like a true icewing. Iceberg and Polar never showed more than a glimpse of sibling love near her, if their father told them to kill Silver they would do so without hesitation. But still some part of her liked her sister and believed she acted that way because Sleet told her to. Silver dreamed of a day where Iceberg would be the kind and loving older sister Silver wished for, but it never happened. Discouraged, Silver left the stands and made her way to the opening in the colosseum. "Where are you going, we still have the ice challenge party." A voice rang out flatly. Silver turned around to face her father. After every Ice challenge the queen would hold a party first circle dragons and nobles could attend. Queen Blizzard would talk about the victims she'd claimed with things like "I never liked them anyway, always so talkative." ''Silver couldn't bear hearing what Blizzard would say about Iceberg. "I'm not going, don't even try to stop me." Silver replied. Before Sleet could catch her, she flung herself out the exit and jumped into the sky. Filling her lungs with crisp air, Silver flew away from the colosseum, not caring where she was going. ''Anywhere thats not here. ''She'd be punished for this, but it wasn't as bad as the punishment of hearing the queen talk about herself for hours. And only when the sky had turned dusty purple did Silver return. Chapter One: The River Battle ''Two years later "Today you two are practice fighting! You will only stop when I say so." At the last part Sleet turned his head towards Silver, who had a tendency to stop fighting and scream "I HATE YOU ALL". Silver, who felt like her insides had melted and turned into water, nodded slowly. Across from her stood her brother Polar, looking ready to tear Silver apart in seconds. Her father nodded his head and stepped back. With that, the battle began. Polar crouched down and slid to the right and Silver replicated the movement. Nothing happened for a matter of second, then Polar realizing Silver wasn't attacking first, launched himself at her. She didn't have time to move and Polar threw her to the ground. The snow below her gave a loud crunch and pain fled through her legs as Polar clawed at them. 'Fight back!" Yelled Sleet from somewhere, and so she did. Using her back legs to throw him off, Silver flung herself back into fighting position and jumped at Polar. She landed on top of him and bit into his neck. Tasting blood, Silver spit it out into the snow. Using her wings to propel herself she quickly jumped off her brother and landed far away. Polar stood stunned at Silvers sudden ferocity, but soon regained himself and ran at her. This time, Silver starting running at him too. When they met Silver pushed him into the huge rushing river by them. Eons seemed to pass, but soon polars arm reached out of the water and clawed at the ice till he achieved a grip and pulled himself out. Dripping in blood and coughing, he laid his body on the ice. Panting, Silver couldn't believe it She'd won a battle! Although she was slightly tired she felt overwhelming pride in herself. Her claws felt like she was flying without wings, and a smile appeared on her snout. A voice like claws on ice broke her victory thoughts "COMPLETELY UNFAIR! You are not ''allowed use of the river in practice battles!" Her father screamed, as if he wanted the entire ice kingdom to know Silver hadn't followed the rules. Feeling a sinking feeling inside her mixed with anger and fear Silver spoke, "I think its fair, I'm just using my surroundings." The moment she said it, she immediately regretted it. Sleet's eyes seemed to pop out of his skull, and he advanced on her. A sound like a whip being crack whizzed through the air, and Silver felt white-hot pain on the left side of her face. Her father's sharp tail was raised angrily in the air, a common punishment for misbehavior. Silver felt tears spring to her eyes, but was determined to keep them there. "Anymore comments?" Sleet said coldly. Trying not to shake, Silver nodded her head no. "Good, now wash off and return home, no food for the next three days." With that he made for the direction of the icewing palace, she watched him go. Trying not to shriek from the pain, Silver stumbled over to were Polar was laying. He was luckily still breathing, although the current of the river was stronger than at least three dragons. Washing the blood From herself Silver followed her father's tracks leading back to the palace. Thinking about the fight, a horrible thought struck Silver that she'd completely forgotten ''The ice challenge is tomorrow. Horrible dread fled through her, only she and her mother were the last surviving heirs. At least one heir must compete each year. It'll be either mother or I, one of us has to die. She felt a hatred even stronger than before for Queen Blizzard. She killed her cousins, sister, aunts, and more because she couldn't handle the fear of being challenged. Because she was so greedy, she'd hold onto her throne even if her own daughter died. Now she would take Silver or her mothers life without a speck of guilt. Chapter 2: The Long Awaited Escape "I want you to leave, I'll enter." Silver stood in their home, shocked by what her mother had said. Frost had never been too kind to Silver, better than her father, but still not great. But now aparrently she wanted to compete so Silver can escape. Feeling an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for her mother she embraced her in her wings. Tears streaming down her face, Silver replied "You're sure?" Barley getting it out due to her shaking. "Yes, run away and start a new life. You can return when Blizzard is dead and become queen" Said Frost, kinder than she'd ever been. Me? Queen? Silver had never thought about it, she was never taught to rule. As the last surviving heir though she'd have to, but she didn't want it. Signing boring papers and discussing peace between tribes, that wasn't for her. "Just be safe." Her mother said, breaking her thoughts. Silver opened her mouth but the no words came out, finally she nodded her head. Crying hard now Silver whispered goodbye and headed for the door. When she reached the outside her tears felt cold and painful on her scales. Throwing one last wistful look at her mother, Silver opened her wings as if to welcome the blue sky. Jumping into the air and breathing her last breath of goodbye Silver started her way towards a place she'd heard of called The Queen's Paradise To my new life. Silver felt large amounts of joy among other emotions that raged like a storm inside her. She had always dreamed of this moment but this wasn't the way she expected it to happen. Not with so much violence ''with everything. Minutes passed and Silver realized the ice challenge must be happening. The whole event and the party included lasted around an hour. Imagining her mother standing on the podium with Queen Blizzard sent waves of regret through her. She wished Frost could have escaped with her, but if no one attended the Ice Challenge to distract the queen surely she would have released her soldiers upon them, they'd be caught before they got in the air. Not to mention many icewings attended the challenge, meaning few dragons were guarding the exits at the moment. Soaring over hard blue ice and white snow nothing happened for hours, when the land morphed into crashing waves and the temperature rose Silver started feeling bits of fear during inside her. ''Where am I going to live? Its so hot here, I don't think I can stand it much longer. I barley have a plan. What if dragons hate me, they always did in the ice kingdom. Im not very interesting am I? Ive got no personality or-'' No, she ''couldn't think like that, she'd be fine. It didn't matter if it was uncomfortable, she was saving lives in the future. And she could she the beach now! Covered in pale yellow grains she recognized as sand. The water was lapping at the edge peacefully and birds flew overhead. The sun had started its path down and the sky was turning a brilliant shade of tangerine and purple. The thin clouds above were a pastel red while the light reflected off the water in a shining rainbow. Now the white and blue colors of the icewing's kingdom seemed bland compared to this and Silver wondered how she had survived there for so long. Her jaw dropped open at the sight. She felt so much wonder and love at the colors she was determined to remember it forever. When her claws touched down on the wet sand Silver felt like she ruining a masterpiece, her tracks left visible marks. Oh well The sand might night be as cold as ice, but it was still soothing. Silver curled herself up and looking at the beach one last time, fell asleep. Chapter 3: The Skywings Silver awoke to the feeling of claws prodding her tail. Opening her eyes groggily she looked at the cause of feeling. The answer was four large skywings. "Who are you." The largest of them growled. Silver only blinked, unable to think of a reply. The Skywings before her had red and orange scales, some were also tinged with yellow and crimson. It was strange seeing these dragons, almost like a dream. The first dragons I've met here. How nice. But Silver's feeling of friendship were replaced with the instinct to run, the skywings didn't look ''nice. Their teeth were barred and their eyes were sharp and small. ''It was a horrible idea to sleep here, I should have known this would happen. I just got caught up in the moment. Silver remembered the beautiful sunset and wished she could warn her past self of what was to come when she awoke. "I said WHO ARE YOU!" The large skywing said again Knowing she had no choice, Silver replied "My name's Iceberg." Hoping they didn't notice it was a fake name. The skywings looked at her suspiciously, but they didn't comment. "Why are you here." A lean red skywing asked. The largest skywing shot the red one a look that Silver recognized, one full of hatred and anger, she'd seen it so many times on her sibling's faces. She felt small bits of sadness to think of the icewings. Silver was trying to think of an answer, she couldn't tell the truth incase they turned her in. "Well I didn't really like it there, kinda cold you know?" She answered nonchalantly, even though she felt like she going faint from fear. It was also partially true, Silver hated it there. The red skywing seemed to relax a little and laughed, "A Icewing who doesn't like the cold, that's a first!" Right then, Silver didn't know what to do, she instantly felt a small liking to the red skywing, but was still afraid of the others.'' He seems nice, maybe in another world we could've been friends. Too bad he's trying to kill me now. Interrupting her thoughts the large skywing made a threatening growl. "I told you not to speak Ignite, ''Im ''in charge." Ignite flicked his tail "So sorry, just thought when queen Mahogany said 'The strongest of you is in change. now GO!' she ''clearly meant me." He held up his small arms and compared them jokingly to the larger skywing's muscles. Her fear leaving for a second, Silver bit back a laugh. "I rue the day I got assigned you." The larger skywing said, his voice like the low rumbling of a thunderstorm. "I rue yesterday too!" Ignite replied, as if he had just received news it was his hatching day. To this, the large skywing held up his claws. "If you don't stop this act now you'll wake up to these tomorrow." The sky wings claws gleamed in the light, but Ignite didn't flinch. "Well I don't plan on being here tomorrow, so goodbye! C'mon icewing let's go." With that, he opened his wings and flew into the air. Silver waited, both surprised and unsure if this was the right choice. Ignite smiled at her from above and she relized this would be her only chance to escape. Getting up quickly, she too opened her wings and jumped into the air. Her tense body ached from her last flight, but she still felt a rush when the wind whipped her face. She gained height in seconds, and looked down. Below her the skywings stood shocked by the fact that anyone would disobey them. But soon the large skywing began to open his wings. "FLY AWAY!" Yelled Ignite from somewhere. So she did, turning her head forward Silver pumped her wings faster than she'd ever gone. She could hear Ignite next to her which was reassuring, but she also heard heavy wingbeats only feet away. Three moons, they're going to catch us. Her heart beating, Silver imagined herself chained in the skywing palace, starving and driven insane by the heat. For what felt like the hundredth time today, she felt waves of fear crash through her. She couldn't let that happen. It was so stupid to sleep in the open last night! Look where it lead her, right into the claws of dragons who wouldn't mind if she dropped dead in front of them. Her mother died for this, Silver reminded herself, and she kept throwing away her sacrifice. The dragons were getting closer now and she felt a strange kind of pain on her back legs. It hurt so deeply she turned around for the source. Looking behind her, Silver saw the large skywing was only inches away. Here she could see the scars on his snout and the twisted look of fury upon his face. She gave a shriek of fear and tried to move faster but couldn't. The pain on her legs was growing stronger, it seemed to fill her bones with a feeling that made her wish she could fall out of the sky disappear forever. Then, she saw it. Oh no anything but that. Silver's entire back legs were covered in fire. It spread like a plague across her body and just wouldn't stop. "TRAITOR! QUEEN MOHAGANY WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD AFTER THIS!" Yelled a skywing from somewhere behind her. Panting and clearly trying to mask the stress of flying Ignite replied "HA, more like she'll have your head for letting me escape! You've forgotten my mothers her favorite sister." Grinning as the skywing's faces of anger switched to regret Ignite put on a burst of speed. He caught up to Silver and turned to her, "YOU'RE COVERED IN FIRE! PUT IT OUT!" He screamed. Even though her life was in jeopardy, Silver felt a little pang of unnecessary anger. Of course she knew she was on fire, that was obvious! And how was she supposed to put it out, the scrolls she'd read on It said water but she couldn't see any in the thick forest they'd just entered. A horrible smell of burnt scales was trailing behind her. An idea struck her, why hadn't she thought of it earlier? Craning her neck around Silver aimed her snout at her legs. She was disgusted, her legs had turned dark brown and seemed to be melting right off her. Feeling a cold chill well up inside her Silver opened her mouth and released a whirlwind of frost-breath. The small ice particles flew through the air and hit her scales, putting in end to the burning flames. But the ice particles also flew off farther than she imagined. They hit the large skywing behind her in the face. The ice traveled across his face, sealing his snout shut with loud cracking noises. He faltered and then dropped to the ground with a crash. Below, Silver could just she his wide open eyes that were slowly being covered with ice. The other two skywing's retreated instantly, turning away and flying back in the direction of the far away beach. Silver still felt a stinging pain in her legs and winced. "Wow! that was absolutely amazing! lets land over there." Ignite said, nodding towards a small clearing with a pond, he's tone of voice showing admiration and joy. They passed over trees and slowly descended. When her legs touched the ground Silver felt even stronger stinging pain through them. She felt worn out and tired, barley having the strength to breath. Her wings and legs felt like they were about to fall off when she laid down slowly. "Thats a horrible burn." Silver wanted to snap back but stopped herself. This dragon had saved her, she should show some gratitude. Finding it hard to produce words she said "Thank you. Why did you save me?" "I couldn't watch you die. I hate the patrol job, mother said I needed more back-bone so she made my aunt sign me up." He answered matter of factly. She felt guilt now, she'd probably ruined this dragons life. "The queen will kill you when she finds us, I'm so sorry I brought you into this." Silver said though heavy breathing. "No, didn't you hear what I said? Im the queens nephew." He answered. Silver sat in confusion for a few moments before worrisome thoughts began in her head. Iv'e met another royal, but this time I don't have to recite strange statements to them. What should I do? Should I bow or something? Would he be offended if I didn't? Theres also a chance he's lying, but the look on the skywings faces when he told them looked very real. "Anyway, as you've probably heard my names Ignite. Your Iceberg right?" He asked. Believing she could at least trust this dragon with her name, she corrected him. "Oh smart. I would've done the same." He replied. It made Silver uneasy how relaxed the skywing was around her. Now that she was calmer she could see that Ignite had slightly dark red scales with a peach colored underside. His eyes were yellow and slightly orange, giving off a friendly vibe she'd never seen in dragons. "Who are you Ignite?" Silver asked, wanting to know more before she felt she could fully trust him. "Well, I'm a 12 year old skywing whose actually recently having an egg with my mate. Dragons say I've got different personalities, my main two are probably joking around and being sarcastic while the other one is me being a total rainwing and being super impulsive!" When he finished, he grabbed a yellow fruit off a nearby tree and smashed it over his head. Shaking the bits of fruit off his head he ran forward and jumped into the small pond. Laughing, Silver waited till be got out. "I Just know I'm going to be a great father!" He shouted. Silver couldn't believe this dragon was 12, he was smaller and more skinnier than the other skywings. She'd thought he was probably 8 when she met him. "Were thinking Inferno if its a boy, Maroon if it's a girl. But enough about that, tell me everything about yooooooooou." She had to pause, part of her deeply wanted to trust him but another felt like she shouldn't risk it. Taking a deep breath she began her story so far. "Im the niece of the dreadful queen blizzard who has created an event to kill her heirs. It happens every two years and it's called the ice challenge. You have a choice to compete, and something called the ice crystal is presented. It's animus enchanted to pick the next icewing queen, but it doesn't. Queen Blizzard secretly created it so that it only picks her. Ive had to watch my sister, cousins and aunts die in front of me. Only my mother and I know the truth. This year though, we're the last serving heirs. The rules say one dragon must compete each year. Meaning either my mother or I would have too. She sacrificed herself and entered the ice challenge, letting me escape." When Silver finished, she felt relieved could tell someone. Ignite gave her a shocked yet understanding look. "Thats, horrible! Queen Mohagany isn't all too good a queen either. Just wow, all your family members dead because your power hungry aunt. Im so sorry, here I am talking about how awesome my life is." "No its fine." She replied, although it wasn't. "So, who enchanted the ice crystal?" Ignite asked. "What?" Silver replied "Who made the enchantment, do you know?" It took a few seconds for her to process what he'd said. The queen has an animus. Even though she thought it clearly, it didn't seem true. Why didn't I ever wonder how the ice crystal was made!? Silver wanted to claw herself to death, how could she have been so stupid? But whose the animus, and will they use there powers to track me down? You can't hide from animus magic. ''That was true, in seconds icewings could appear ad take her back to queen blizzard. Silver's claws started to shake at the very thought. It was believed the animus gene disappeared from the icewings long ago. How did it return? ''So many questions and so few answers. Chapter 4: The Queen's Paradise Silver was flying through the sky. Her pale blue wings were glinting in the intense golden sun. Ignite flew by her, having to almost shut his eyes so wouldn't be blinded by the light streaming off her scales. The sky was a vivid blue with small wisps of clouds, hills and mountains rushed past beneath them. Ignite had generously agreed to help her reach The queen's Paradise, then he would return to the his family. "I see it!" He cried, pointing his head in the direction of a valley. Silver turned her head and saw it, shops lined the walls and houses rose from the ground, the buildings made of all kinds of things. The place was covered in green grass and protected by sloping hills. Its amazing, even more wonderful than what I've read about. She remembered the time she'd picked up the scroll and read it. It described a place that was created by the queen of the seawings, where dragons of every tribe were welcome. Her siblings had scoffed at the idea of it, how wrong they were. Silver and Ignite started to descend, their wings curving in. Well I'll have to write more later. I'm sure theres lots of typos and none of you can understand it because I can't make things clear. Also if anyone got this far and they actually understand it can you tell me? Thanks Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete) Category:Fanfictions Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)